NATURAL HISTORY QUERIES. 
147. A Tame Swift. — We have had lately an interesting pet — a young 
swift, which, having been rescued from the cat, was brought indoors and put 
into a cage. For some days we had difficulty in feeding it, the beak having 
to be opened with the fingers ; but later, it took with avidity bits of raw meat, 
and water — drop by drop — off the finger-tip. Although fully fledged, the young 
bird had but little power in its wings at first, but soon it learnt to fly short 
distances, from chair to chair in the room, and so on ; or it would creep along 
the ground, or along one’s arm, with a motion resembling that of a large moth. 
A dark corner, or a patch of shade, attracted it most, or the inside of a coat 
sleeve to crawl up, when held in the owner’s open palm. This novel pet 
would often cling to my sister’s chest, holding on to the lace of her blouse, so 
tame did it become. She would walk some distance carrying it, apparently 
causing it not the slightest discomfort. We kept our small foundling about three 
weeks from the day it was taken from the cat, and on August 7, having been 
carried into the garden, it quite suddenly displayed an unsuspected power of 
flight. Over the bushes and then the tree-tops it rose, and disappeared from 
view, to our regret. Can anyone tell me whether such a bird would be likely 
to shift for itself and catch its food in the way natural to a swift, after captivity, 
or would it run the risk of being pecked by others of its kind ? We are an.xious 
to be reassured as to the fate of our small pet. 
Elizabeth N. Gibbs. 
148. Golden Oriole. — Will someone tell me if the black feather in this 
bird belongs exclusively to the cock or hen ? 
Harriet B. Blair. 
149. Cuckoos and Saw-fly Larva.— Do cuckoos eat the larva of the 
saw-fly that attacks our currant and gooseberry bushes ? Some say they do. 
This caterpillar is so easily seen that, were it not protected by being of nauseous 
taste, it would soon be exterminated by birds ; and caterpillars that expose 
themselves to view are thus protected. However, there is no accounting for 
tastes, and the cuckoo, which in its ways and habits is so different to birds 
in general, may have its own peculiar views on the matter. There are nut 
enough cuckoos to cause extermination of an insect. A friend writes to say that 
a cuckoo has frequently been seen on his gooseberry bushes and underneath the 
nets placed over them. As I have yet to learn that cuckoos are fruit-eaters, 
I am inclined to think this bird must have gone there to feed on the saw-fly 
caterpillar. My friend, however, could find very few caterpillars, and 'hardly 
any of the leaves were attacked by them. 
Edmund Thos. Daubenv. 
150. Mummy Wheat. — It is a common belief that grains of wheat retain 
the power of germination for hundreds, if not thousands, of years ; and that 
different kinds of corn taken from Egyptian sarcophagi have been planted and 
grown. The same is said of peas, beans, lentils, vetches, and the like. On the 
other hand, we read that this belief is not based on fact, and that no seed retains 
its vitality for so long a period. Will someone tell us what the facts are, and 
what to believe? 
Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
151. Scentless Musk. — This summer I have had some pots of the small- 
flowered trailing musk on my window-ledges in Kensington. The plants thrive 
well and are covered with yellow blossom, but are (juite scentless. I commented 
on this to a friend, spoke of the sweet scent of the musk-bed I remembered in an 
old Scotch garden, and wondered if London air was to blame. “ Oh, no,” she 
said; “are you not aware that the musk plant has of late years become scentless 
in England ? You will find many an old woman with a cottage garden to grumble 
along with you over this change since she was a girl.” If this be true, what is 
the cause? “The Gardener’s Dictionary ” gives 1826 as the date of the plant’s 
introduction into this country, and I can testify that in 1870 the scent was potent, 
so if affected by climate, why not sooner ? It certainly requires a blazing Conti- 
nental sun to fully develop the resinous odours of a pinewood, which looks as if 
